Fulton, Mo 10/25/2023- The Westminster College men's soccer team hosted the Fontbonne University Griffins in the final regular season home game. The Griffins are at the top of the SLIAC men's soccer standings, and the Blue Jays have secured a playoff spot and are now battling for their tournament seeding. The game would go scoreless into halftime. Both teams would score a goal in the second half and the game would end in a 1-1 draw. The Blue Jays move to 4-9-2 on the season and are 3-3-2 in the SLIAC, currently in fifth place with one game to go. The Griffins move to 9-5-3 on the year and are 6-1-1 in the conference and will be the top seed in the SLIAC men's soccer tournament.
Fontbonne would control much of the first half, taking nine shots in total and holding the Blue Jay offense to only two total shots. Westminster goalkeeper, Toby Hughes, and his defense came up big to keep the game scoreless in the first half, making six saves in the half.
After the break, the Blue Jays would take control of the game and that would lead to a goal from Niklas Olsson in the 53rd minute to put Westminster up 1-0. It would be Olsson's eighth goal of the season; he is third in the SLIAC in goal scoring.
The Blue Jays would hold that lead for almost twenty minutes when the Griffins hit the equalizer in the 70th minute to tie the game 1-1. Westminster would have an enormous opportunity when freshman, Joel Litten, got fouled in the box, and he would take a penalty kick in the 86th minute. Litten took the kick and shot towards the bottom left corner, but the Griffin goalkeeper saved it by getting a hand on it. The ball then hit the crossbar and bounced out, keeping the game tied.
The Griffins would get one last chance to take the lead in the 89th minute with a corner kick. They crossed it into the box, and it would find the foot of a Griffin attacker and Toby Hughes would make the save and preserve the 1-1 draw.
On Friday, October 27th, the Blue Jays will face Eureka College in their final regular season game. Both teams are competing for a playoff seeding. Kick-off will take place from Eureka, Illinois, at 5:00 p.m.
